This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Fluid containers preferably function inside motor vehicles as oil reservoirs from which transmissions and engines, in particular, draw oil for lubrication and cooling. Within these applications, on the one hand, it is important to be able to adjust as accurately as possible the filling level of the oil and, on the other hand, easy drainage of the oil from the container and/or the oil pan is advantageous. In most cases, oil pans generally comprise an oil supply opening at the side or on the upper face and an oil drainage opening on the lower face. However, designs are also known from the prior art which have the oil drainage opening only on the lower face of the oil pan and which also use said oil drainage opening for filling the oil pan with oil.
EP 1 369 556 A1 discloses, for example, a design of a filling device for regulating the oil level in oil pans in engines and transmissions. The solution set forth therein discloses an oil pan with an opening in the base of the oil pan, said opening being able to be closed by an oil drain screw. An oil filling collar which protrudes into the interior of the oil pan is arranged above the opening in the base. A releasable filling pipe is attached to the oil filling collar, wherein the opening of the filling pipe constitutes an overflow opening which determines the defined oil level. By displacing the filling pipe relative to the oil filling collar into a position in which two recesses overlap, one on the filling pipe and one on the oil filling collar, oil is able to be drained out again. A drawback with the solution disclosed in EP 1 369 556 A1 is the costly two-part design.